How Saudi Arabia made its Olympic dreams a reality 

Saudi fans cheers their team on against Vietnam during a men's football qualifying match for the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Dammam. (AFP/File Photo)
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Updated 25 March 2021
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How Saudi Arabia made its Olympic dreams a reality 

  • With the Tokyo Games fast approaching, the Kingdom has put athletics, participation and sporting prowess high on the agenda 
  • Saudi athletes did not compete in the Olympics until 1972 and achieved medal success for the first time in 2000 

DUBAI: When historian Pierre de Coubertin looked to the distant past for sporting inspiration, he could never have imagined he would go on to be remembered as the father of the modern Olympic Games.

The Frenchman was a student of the ancient games, which took their name from the Panhellenic religious sanctuary of Olympia in western Greece, where they were originally held between the 8th century BC and the 4th century AD.

In 1894, Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and, just two years later, the first modern Olympics were held in Athens in recognition of their historical origins.

Since then, the Summer Games have taken place every four years, save for those canceled by the world wars, just as they did in ancient Greece, with the introduction of the Winter Games in 1924, the Paralympics in 1948 and the Youth Olympics in 2010.

But when those first official games took place in 1896, modern Saudi Arabia’s foundation as an independent nation state was still 36 years away.




A picture taken on March 13, 2019 shows an aircraft by Abu Dhabi's Etihad carrier decorated to celebrate the upcoming Special Olympics World Games during the Saudi International Airshow at Thumamah Airport in the capital Riyadh. (AFP/File Photo)

The Kingdom joined the UN at its inception in 1945, but its engagement in general sporting development was slower off the starting blocks. Olympic participation, for long, remained a distant dream.

As football’s global popularity swept the Kingdom in the first half of the 20th century, many other Olympic sports, such as track and field, fencing and equestrianism, would take a little longer to catch on, officially at least, in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Arabian Football Federation was established in 1956 and immediately became a member of FIFA. By that time, several clubs were already in existence. Al-Ittihad of Jeddah, for instance, was established in 1927, five years before independence, while city neighbors Al-Ahli came 10 years later.

The trio of Riyadh clubs, Al-Shabab, Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal, were founded in 1947, 1955 and 1957 respectively.

By contrast, the Saudi National Olympic Committee (NOC) was not established until 1965, and Saudi athletes did not compete until the Munich Games of 1972.

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Since then, the Kingdom has sent athletes to 11 of the 12 Summer Games, the only exception being Moscow 1980, when Saudi Arabia joined a US-led boycott of the USSR in response to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan six months earlier.

Remarkably, considering their impressive achievements in the 1980s, 1990s and beyond, generation after generation of Saudi footballers had, until recently, failed to qualify for the Olympics.

After three AFC Asian Cup triumphs in 1984, 1988 and 1996, and five World Cup appearances in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2018, that record was put straight when the Saudi under-23s team qualified to compete at the Tokyo Games, due to take place this summer but postponed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Saudi Olympic medal success finally came in the Kingdom’s seventh games at Sydney 2000 when Hadi Soua’an Al-Somaily won silver in the 110-meter hurdles and Khaled Al-Eid claimed bronze in the individual show jumping event.




Prince Abdullah Al Saud of Saudi Arabia on Davos competes in the second Individual Show Jumping qualifier of the 2012 London Olympics at the Equestrian venue in Greenwich Park, London on August 5, 2012. (AFP/File Photo)

“Since the beginning of the modern Olympic movement in 1896, respect, excellence and friendship have been talked about mainly,” Prince Fahd bin Jalawi Al-Saud, vice president of the Saudi Olympic Committee, told Arab News in December.

“That is what has been happening for the last 124 years and that is what we can see in any Olympic event, either at the Olympic Games or any other event related to it.”

It was not until 2012 that a Saudi athlete set foot on the podium again, with equestrians Ramzy Al-Duhaim, Abdullah Al-Saud, Abdullah Sharbatly and Kamal Bahamdan winning bronze in the show jumping team event.

Perhaps more significantly, London 2012 were the first senior games to include female Saudi athletes — a change many felt had been a long time coming.




Prince Abdullah Al Saud of Saudi Arabia on Davos competes in the second Individual Show Jumping qualifier of the 2012 London Olympics at the Equestrian venue in Greenwich Park, London on August 5, 2012. (AFP/File Photo)

Changes in the Olympic charter meant that every participating nation must include at least one female competitor. At the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore, 18-year-old Dalma Rushdi Malhas had won bronze for Saudi Arabia in the individual show jumping event. Her podium finish was the Kingdom’s only victory at the competition.

Two years later in London, it was the turn of athlete Sarah Attar in the 800 meters and judo competitor Wojdan Shaherkani in the above 78kg event to make history as the first Saudi female athletes at the senior Olympics.

While there had been a genuine desire from the Saudi side to take female athletes to London, there was still an impulse within the NOC not to cause offense at a time when a still conservative Kingdom had not yet seen the cultural and societal changes of the late 2010s and early 2020s.

There were even last-minute concerns that Shaherkani would pull out if she was not allowed to wear her hijab during competition. But, having pushed the Saudi NOC to introduce women into the games, the IOC relented.

There would be no medals for either competitor, but a longstanding taboo had been broken.

“Any change will face some resistance. What we do in the Ministry of Sports and the Saudi Sport for all Federation is all about diversity and inclusion,” Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, who became the Kingdom’s first sports minister in early 2020, told Arab News late last year, while discussing women’s participation in sport.

“Things are changing in a positive way and we have to make sure that it changes in the right way with the right momentum.”

In the 2016 Olympic Games, Saudi Arabia took seven male and four female competitors to Rio.

Attar returned for her second games, but this time in the women’s marathon rather than the 800-meter dash. She was joined by Kariman Abuljadayel, who took part in the first heat of the women’s 100 meters, but did not progress further.




The Saudi team (from L) Prince Abdullah al Saud, Kamal Bahamdan, Ramzy Al Duhami and Abdullah Waleed Sharbatly (bronze) celebrate with their bronze medals on the podium of the team Show Jumping event of the 2012 London Olympics. (AFP/File Photo)

On the men’s side, Abdullah Abkar Mohammed ran in the 100-meter race, while long-distance runners Tariq Ahmed Al-Amri and Mukhlid Mahil Al-Otaibi took part in the 5,000 meters.

Sultan Al-Dawoodi competed in the discus, Atallah Al-Anazi in shooting and Sulaiman Hamad in judo.

Doubling the number of female athletes from the London Games, Joud Fahmy and Lubna Al-Omair took part respectively in judo and fencing.

Sadly, there would not be a single Saudi medal in Rio. But the days when simply taking part was seen as a minor triumph in itself are coming to an end.

Since the Kingdom launched its ambitious Vision 2030 plan to diversify the economy away from oil, Saudi Arabia has made several bids to host international sports tournaments and has eased social restrictions on participation and spectating.

With more and more male and female sports federations being established on an almost monthly basis, and genuine financial backing coming from the country’s authorities, the time is surely not far when more Saudi athletes will qualify for the Olympics.

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Twitter: @AliKhaled_


Sporting beat Benfica in cup final to complete double

Updated 25 May 2025
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Sporting beat Benfica in cup final to complete double

  • Sporting Lisbon defeated rivals Benfica 3-1 to claim the Portuguese Cup on Sunday

LISBON: Sporting Lisbon defeated rivals Benfica 3-1 to claim the Portuguese Cup on Sunday and complete an impressive double after edging out the same opponent on the final day of the league season.
Rui Borges’ side forced extra-time with in-form striker Viktor Gyokeres’ penalty in the 11th minute of stoppage time after Orkun Kokcu sent Benfica ahead in the 47th minute.
Conrad Harder fired Sporting in front after 99 minutes and Francisco Trincao wrapped up the win at the death against their Lisbon rivals.
Sporting’s season was almost derailed when coach Ruben Amorim left to join Manchester United in November and his successor Joao Pereira struggled to get the team firing.
Little over a month later Borges came in and steadied the ship, taking the team to a second successive Portuguese crown before making it a double.
“We almost lost but in the last minute (we saved it), only a great team can do this,” Sporting midfielder Morten Hjulmand told Sport TV.
“It’s an honor to be part of this team, I really enjoy it.”
In the 2024 final, Sporting were beaten by Porto and Hjulmand was happy to rectify that this time around.
“We weren’t completely satisfied last year, we were left with a bit of an empty feeling but now the cup is ours and we want to celebrate,” he said.
It may be the last game Gyokeres plays for the club, with the 26-year-old striker in-demand among Europe’s top clubs after an excellent season, in which he scored 54 goals across all competitions.
“You have to ask him (about his future), he has a contract — if it were up to me he would stay,” added Hjulmand.


Newcastle secure Champions League spot on final day

Updated 25 May 2025
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Newcastle secure Champions League spot on final day

  • Magpies end up in fifth place, edging out Villa on goal difference

NEWCASTLE: Newcastle United squeezed into the Champions League places despite losing 1-0 to Everton at home in their final game of the Premier League season on Sunday, thanks to Manchester United’s 2-0 home win over Aston Villa.

The Magpies, who ended a 70-year domestic trophy drought by beating Liverpool to win the League Cup earlier in the season, ended up in fifth place on 66 points, edging out Villa on goal difference.

Newcastle dominated throughout but were undone by poor finishing and sloppy passing and they were punished for giving away the ball in the center of the pitch in the 65th minute, with Vitaliy Mykoloenko crossing for Carlos Alcaraz to score with a brilliant header.

The home side poured forward late in the second half as they sought to salvage some pride with an equalizer but Everton were in no mood to accommodate them and defended doggedly to the bitter end, finishing their season in 13th place on 48 points.

Meanwhile, Chelsea booked their place in the Champions League as Levi Colwill sealed a 1-0 win that shattered Nottingham Forest’s bid for a top-five finish.

Colwill struck early in the second half at the City Ground to ensure Enzo Maresca’s side returned to Europe’s elite club competition after a two-year absence.

The Blues finished fourth in the Premier League, four points above seventh-placed Forest, who were consigned to the UEFA Conference League after failing in their attempt to play in the Champions League for the first time since 1980-81.

Chelsea won five of their last six league games to earn their Champions League berth despite criticism of Maresca’s conversative tactics from frustrated fans.

With their Champions League fate successfully resolved, Chelsea can focus on winning their first trophy since the Club World Cup in 2022 when they face Real Betis in the UEFA Conference League final on Wednesday.

Leading Chelsea to Champions League qualification and silverware would be a fitting riposte to Maresca’s doubters after a turbulent debut season in charge for the Italian.

Chelsea had won only seven of their previous 18 away league games, in contrast to their impressive record of 12 wins from 19 at Stamford Bridge.

But they rose to Maresca’s challenge after he urged them to prove they could cope with the pressure of a must-win match on the road.

Forest, who were third for several weeks, paid the price for failing to win any of their last four home games.

Despite missing out on the Champions League, Forest’s highest finish since coming third in 1994-95 was an impressive achievement for a club that battled to avoid relegation on the final day of last season.

Forest’s players were greeted by hundreds of fans waving red flares and balloons when they stepped off the team bus, setting the tone for a raucous atmosphere that peaked when Taiwo Awoniyi came onto the pitch just before kick-off.

Awoniyi sustained a serious abdominal injury after colliding with a post against Leicester and has been recovering after being placed in an induced coma following surgery.

Nuno Espirito Santo had urged Forest to use the Nigerian striker’s recovery from his horrific injury as their inspiration.

There was no lack of endeavour from Nuno’s team as they worked tirelessly to rattle Chelsea, but chances were at a premium in a tense clash.

It took Chelsea half an hour to create a chance of note when Pedro Neto shot wastefully over from five yards after Cole Palmer’s cross picked out the winger.

Forest striker Chris Wood squandered a similar opportunity just before half-time as he met Ola Aina’s cross with a volley that flashed over from close range.

With an average age of 24 years and 36 days, Chelsea’s starting line-up was the youngest over the course of an entire season in the Premier League era.

Chelsea’s lack of experience has been an issue at times in a rocky season, but they got the job done in the 50th minute.

Neco Williams’ weak attempt to head clear was seized on by Neto and his low cross reached Colwill for a tap-in at the far post.


Lando Norris wins in Monaco to slash Oscar Piastri’s F1 lead

Updated 25 May 2025
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Lando Norris wins in Monaco to slash Oscar Piastri’s F1 lead

  • Win is Briton’s first since Melbourne, who cuts Australian’s lead to three points
  • Mandatory second pitstop fails to change order

MONACO: Lando Norris celebrated his first Monaco Grand Prix win from pole position on Sunday and slashed McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri’s Formula One lead to three points in a race more about strategy than speed.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished runner-up in the home race he won last year, with Piastri third and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fourth — all four finishing in the order they started.
The afternoon featured two mandatory pitstops for the first time but hopes of more action around the harborside circuit fell short.
Drivers through the field played a waiting game, with Verstappen holding off his final stop until the penultimate lap and those behind biding their time while keeping out of trouble. Norris ultimately lapped all but four cars.
The win was the Briton’s second in eight races and first since the Australian season-opener in March, as well as McLaren’s first at Monaco since 2008.
“Monaco baby!,” he shouted over the radio as the chequered flag finally fell.
“The last quarter was stressful with Leclerc behind and Max ahead but we won in Monaco,” said Norris.
“This is what I dreamed of when I was a kid, so I achieved one of my dreams.”
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was fifth with Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar sixth and Haas’s Esteban Ocon seventh.
Liam Lawson scored his first points of the season for Racing Bulls in eighth place and Williams completed the top 10 with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.
Mercedes had a dismal afternoon in the Mediterranean sunshine, after a nightmare in qualifying, with George Russell 11th and Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli 18th and the last car still running.
The virtual safety car was deployed on the opening lap when Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto went into the tire wall at Portier, the turn before the tunnel, as Antonelli passed on the inside.
Bortoleto made it back to the pits and continued.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was the first retirement, the Frenchman crashing into the back of Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull at the tunnel exit on lap nine and limping back to the pits with the front left wheel hanging off.
“Is he an idiot, what is he doing?” exclaimed Tsunoda.
Gasly, who said he had no brakes, almost took out Argentine rookie team mate Franco Colapinto as he careered through the Nouvelle Chicane.
Aston Martin’s double world champion Fernando Alonso was the second retirement, pulling off on lap 38 with a smoking car to continue his scoreless run for the season.


Saleh Al-Shehri returns for Al-Ittihad ahead of SPL trophy celebrations and King’s Cup final

Updated 25 May 2025
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Saleh Al-Shehri returns for Al-Ittihad ahead of SPL trophy celebrations and King’s Cup final

  • The Saudi international had been sidelined since April 17 with a hamstring injury

JEDDAH: Al-Ittihad striker Saleh Al-Shehri has returned to full training ahead of the club’s Saudi Pro League title celebrations and their final league fixture against Damac on Monday.

The Saudi international had been sidelined since April 17 with a hamstring injury sustained during a match against Al-Fateh in round 28.

He missed five games during his recovery but trained with the squad on Saturday under the watchful eye of head coach Laurent Blanc.

His return comes as a timely boost for the Jeddah club, which will also welcome back several key players ahead of a crucial fortnight.

French striker Karim Benzema and Algerian midfielder Houssem Aouar are both back from injury, while Brazilian enforcer Fabinho Tavares is available once again after serving a one-match suspension for yellow card accumulation.

Al-Ittihad resumed training on Saturday following a short two-day break, with preparations now focused on Monday’s season finale and the King’s Cup final against Al-Qadsiah on May 30.

With the league title already secured, Blanc’s side will be hoping to finish their campaign on a high before lifting the Roshn League trophy in front of their home fans at the King Abdullah Sports City.


UAE jiu-jitsu team dominates day one in Amman with two golds

UAE team captured two gold, two silver and three bronze medals. supplied
Updated 25 May 2025
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UAE jiu-jitsu team dominates day one in Amman with two golds

  • The team captured two gold, two silver and three bronze medals in the men’s divisions, reaffirming its dominance in one of the continent’s most prestigious jiu-jitsu competitions

Amman: The UAE National Jiu-Jitsu Team began its campaign at the 9th Asian Jiu-Jitsu Championship with a strong showing, securing seven medals on the first day of competition at Prince Hamzah Hall in Al-Hussein Youth City, Amman.

The team captured two gold, two silver and three bronze medals in the men’s divisions, reaffirming its dominance in one of the continent’s most prestigious jiu-jitsu competitions.

Theyab Al-Nuaimi (56kg) and Mohamed Ali Al-Suwaidi (69kg) each claimed gold, while Omar Al-Suwaidi (56kg) and Khaled Al-Shehhi (62kg) earned silver. Mehdi Al-Awlaki (77kg), Hazza Al-Qubaisi (85kg) and Faraj Al-Awlaki (94kg) brought home bronze.

Fahad Ali Al-Shamsi, secretary-general of the UAE and Asian Jiu-Jitsu Federations, congratulated the athletes, citing sustained support from wise leadership as a key factor in their continental success.

“This encouraging start reflects the hard work of our technical and administrative teams, as well as the players’ dedication and discipline,” he said. “It’s a fantastic first step toward our goal of topping the overall rankings. Today’s achievement boosts our confidence in the team and emphasizes our athletes’ commitment to proudly represent the UAE.”

He also said that Mubadala Investment Company’s long-term strategic partnership, in place since 2023, had been instrumental in enhancing the team’s preparation and performance at major continental and international tournaments.

Head Coach Helder Medeiros was pleased with the results, citing the high quality of play and progress made by several Asian nations. He highlighted the team’s continued analysis and preparation for the upcoming women’s and under-21 competitions.

Gold medalist Theyab Al-Nuaimi regarded his triumph as a proud moment for both himself and his teammates, recognizing weeks of intense training and discipline. He also praised his coach and the federation for their support.